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Thursday, 2 June 2016

Homemade Fig Rolls: Mrs Bishop is still baking...literally!

So, it's due date day tomorrow - I'll be officially 40 weeks and there's no sign of baby girl yet... I'm getting to that "I'm really fed up of being pregnant" stage now and I'm so excited about her arrival. Obviously, I'm slightly dreading the birth part...but I'm also feeling weirdly excited for the challenge of it all too. I'm trying to fill my days with lots of nice things rather than just sitting around waiting and fretting (plus, I want to try to stay super-active until the end in order to hopefully aid a speedy/stress free birth!) so I've made sure to plan meetings with friends, trips out, walks, and even managed to squish in a baking session today! I saw this recipe on The Guardian last week for homemade fig rolls by the super Felicity Cloake who does a brilliant regular series of "Perfect" recipes. I've been using these recipes for years now, they are always fail-safe and super-reliable as she does all the hard work for you by embarking on testing multiple versions of a recipe for you and coming up with her own final "perfect" version based on what she's learnt. Aside from being great recipes the columns are always a good read if you're a foodie like me! I knew I had to give these fig rolls a try as soon as I saw them as the classic fig roll has always been my twin sisters absolute favourite biscuit and as she was coming up to visit me this week (for half term, she works in a school) it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get my bake on!

Rolled, cut, glazed and about to be sprinkled with sugar before a 25 minute bake.

Golden and baked to perfection!

Felicity's recipe was absolutely spot on as usual - the only change I made was adding a little more mixed spice, as I know I like my bakes to pack a punch (especially where mixed spice is concerned!) ... this is definitely a personal taste thing though.

Reminiscent of a mince pie, these buttery, crumbly pastries are truly delectable and FAR superior (in fact, you just shouldn't compare them) to their shop bought peers.

Each pastry/biscuit works out at around 165 calories, so they're most definitely a treat to be savoured, but I would highly recommend giving this bake a whirl - it is very easy and super-satisying.

I wonder if I'll get the chance to bake anything else before baby-girl Bishop makes her arrival?